the real captain corelli
Wondered how much of the story was true, here's a pointer for anyone interested:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4168897,00.html
Fantastic article, thanks for sharing! That is definitely "must reading" for anybody who has either seen the movie, or soon plans to. I just saw it last night for the first time, and I had a hard time accepting the fact that the Germans inflicted such a despicable act of murder on their (recently) former allies, the Italians. Unfortunately, Cold War politics pretty much buried the truth about this for many decades. That article helped put it into perspective.
This is a film loosely based on a novel. It is a work of fiction.
Having said that, German reprisals for mutiny, rebellion or joining partisans was generally summary execution. Just as the partisan response to assisting the Germans was summary execution. Neither was better than the others.
The Italians invaded Greece, and occupied Greek islands. They then rebelled against their Axis allies. No surprise that they were massacred by the Germans afterwards. I for one have little sympathy for the Captain Corelli's of the period.